THE creation of new posts in the Legal Department was not aiming at ''pushing up locals while retaining the overseas officers'', Attorney-General Jeremy Mathews said yesterday.
In a paper circulated to legislators, Mr Mathews defended his department's localisation proposal. Some councillors had accused him of ''playing musical chairs'', saying the posts created were merely for the sake of localisation.
Mr Mathews said the creation of posts was based on operational needs, which would lead to the availability of more vacancies and thus speed up localisation in the department.
He also dismissed the accusation that the six consultancy posts were created only to accommodate applications from existing expatriate directorate officers.
''Consultancies are created on the basis of need and relate to specific tasks,'' he said.
Legco's establishment committee will discuss Mr Mathews' proposals today.
